This Life of Secrets and Danger
by starrynightshade
Summary: "Our parents didn't want this life for us — this life of secrets and danger. " But when the children of the Avengers risk losing one of their own, they must use the skills their parents never wanted them to have to save her life and unravel a sinister plan in the process. Steve x Sharon, Tony x Pepper, Clint x Natasha, Bruce x Betty
1. The Call

**Okinowa, Japan**

_Sasha_

"You can do better than that." I teased as Kyler dodged her opponent's strike. She shot me a glare before returning her attention to the task at hand.

An insistent beeping came from the device at my wrist. _Please don't be Mom and Dad._ I tapped the screen, accepting the video call. "Liam."

"Hey, Sasha! How's Japan?" He asked, giving me one of his stupid, adorable grins. "Where are you guys?" He asked, looking behind me. His face fell into an annoyed expression. "You guys are fighting aren't you?"

"No." I lied. My sister's opponent hit the ground with a loud thud. "Maybe."

"Sasha, this was supposed to be a vacation. You promised your parents you wouldn't train. You know they don't want you guys getting into all of this."

"Come on, Rogers. You didn't really think we would go on vacation to the birthplace of karate and not brush up on our skills, did you?"

He was right, of course. Our parents didn't want this life for us — this life of secrets and danger. But I think that made us want it all the more. We fought harder, learned more, dispersed ourselves across the globe to prove to them that we were never meant for the "normal" life they thought they had deprived us of.

"Well, I hope you've had your fill because we need you guys to come home." He replied. "The jet should be there at 12:00 your time. All the files and documents that you need have been sent to your tablet. Once you pick up Isabelle you can fill her in on everything."

"What? Why are we being sent back home?" I asked, blowing a stray lock of copper hair out of my face.

"I'm just the messenger." Liam shrugged. "Once you get on the jet you can access the files that have been sent to you. They'll explain this whole thing."

"Liam, what aren't you te-" I started.

"Bye Sash. Fly safe." And with that the screen went black.

"Dammit, Liam." I mumbled at the blank screen.

"Trouble in paradise?" Kyler teased, walking towards me. As she brushed aside her honey-blonde curls to towel off the back of her neck I could see a brief flash of the arrow tattoo she had received two weeks earlier.

"You know as well as I do that Liam Rogers is as interested in me as you are in Nolan Stark." I could see Kyler falter. If she wanted to continue teasing me she was going to have to own up to her feelings for Tony Stark's youngest son.

"I'm going to take a shower." She said, ending the conversation.

"Don't be too long, we leave in less than two hours!" I called after her.

**Ludhiana, India**

_Isabelle_

It felt like I had only been asleep for minutes when a pinging noise from my tablet woke me up. Still half asleep, I accepted the video call. "Daddy, I told you I'd call when I woke up." I said rubbing the sleep from my eyes. When I looked back I realized that it was not my father looking back at me from the screen, but Andrew Stark.

"Sorry Isabelle, I figured you'd be awake by now. It's about 6:30 there isn't it?" He asked, running a hand through his rust colored hair.

"I sort of had a late night." I said quietly, trying not to wake the elderly couple I was staying with.

Andrew's face fell for a second. "Oh."

"I got to help one of the women from the clinic deliver a baby." I gushed. "It was… exciting. But, I didn't get back until a couple of hours ago."

My heart started fluttering in my chest when he smiled at me and shook his head. "Isabelle Banner, you are going to run yourself ragged trying to save the world."

"Assisting at a medical clinic for women is hardly saving the world." I said. "But, I just have to get through two more years of school and I'll be able to start making a real dent." I inwardly debated whether or not I wanted to get up yet.

"You are making a real difference Izzy. You don't need a PhD for that." He said.

"Well, _Doctor _Stark, maybe next time you can come with me. We can make a dent in the world's problems together." I said, making my mind up and placing my feet on the floor. I set the tablet down and switched it to hologram mode.

"I don't think a degree in psychology really lends itself to your line of work." Drew replied. "I promise I'll try to make the next one more useful."

I splashed water on my face and dried it with the hem of my tank top. "Do you actually plan on having a career, or are you just going to live at Cornell for the rest of your life?" I asked, referencing our shared alma mater.

"I'm a 22 year-old with an advanced degree and heir to a substantial inheritance. I'm not really all that concerned with starting a career just yet." He said, averting his eyes as I removed my pajamas and slipped into a green sundress.

"Maybe you should be." I said, sitting down. Slowly, I started brushing out my long brown hair and arranging it into a braid. "Your parents could leave everything to Nolan or Sophie, then what would you do?"

"I really doubt that my parents would leave billions of dollars and one of the most powerful companies in the world to my 14 year-old sister."

"Your dad would if she asked nicely enough."

"My dad would buy her the moon if she asked him to. Thank goodness for my mom; I'm convinced she's the only reason Sophie isn't spoiled rotten."

"How is Sophie? I miss her." I said, tying off the end of my braid.

"Sophie is fine. Listen, Izzy, we're bringing everyone home."

Andrew's sudden shift in tone caught me off guard. "Andrew, what's wrong?"

"The ninja twins are picking you up in about seven hours; you'll be briefed on the jet." I rolled my eyes at his nickname for the Barton twins.

"Just tell me what's going on." I insisted, picking the tablet back up.

"Sorry, I can't. The coordinates for the rendezvous point will be sent to your tablet. I'll see you when you get home, okay?"

I sighed, knowing I wouldn't get anything else out of him. "Alright."

He smiled. "And Isabelle… be careful."

"I always am." I said before ending the video chat.

**Eight hours later, somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean**

_Kyler  
><em>

"So we've been called back for a party?" Isabelle asked.

"A _gala_." I corrected "To bid adieu to our dear Director."

"I didn't even know he was retiring." Sasha said.

"I think that's the point. I suppose it makes sense if you think about it. If you wanted to destroy SHIELD, you'd wait for it to be at its weakest before enacting anything." Isabelle said. "A change in power presents the perfect opportunity for SHIELD's enemies to try to take it down."

"Well that does make a lot of sense strategically, but it's still annoying." Sasha said. "I was really looking forward to scuba diving."

"You know, now that I think about it, that explains why Andrew was being so cryptic about the whole thing." Isabelle added.

"And how is ?" I asked, emphasizing his newly acquired title.

I could see Isabelle trying to hide a blush. "Drew's fine. Although, he didn't mention his brother… have you heard from Nolan, Kyler?" Andrew and Isabelle had been hopelessly and obviously in love for years (although neither of them was brave enough to actually admit it to the other), and yet my relationship -or lack thereof-with Nolan Stark was one of Isabelle's favorite topics of conversation.

"I haven't, actually. Lover boy Liam is the one who called us in." I said pointedly looking in Sasha's direction.

Sasha pointed an accusing finger at Izzy. "Don't even try to tell me that he's into me, because he isn't."

Isabelle just sighed and shook her head in that older sisterly way that she had. "One day you two are going to have to swallow your pride and admit that I was right this whole time. It just might be the most satisfying day of my life."

"Well, second most satisfying, after the day you finally let Stark screw you senseless like you've wanted to for the past four years." Sasha's grey-blue eyes glinted mischievously.

"Sasha Renée!" I scolded, feigning indignation. Sasha just laughed, while Isabelle's tanned skin grew more scarlet by the moment.

"Why don't we put in a movie?" She asked, finally recovering herself, and hoping to shift the focus of the conversation.

We settled into the comfy seats of the private Stark Industries jet and dimmed the lights as we discussed our options.

Although the jet was faster than a commercial flight, it was still several hours before we landed at LaGuardia and got onto the helicopter that would take us home.

The evening sun glinted off the buildings of New York as we rose higher into the air. The Tower, as we called it, had been offered up by Tony Stark as a sort of home base for the Avengers when Nick Fury had suggested that everyone have a place to reconvene. It worked out well, especially once everyone started having kids. They say it takes a village, but in our case it took a tower full of superheroes.

Finally I could see it, standing sentry over the surrounding buildings. As we flew closer I could make out my parents and Dr. Banner standing on the roof near the landing pad. Subconsciously, I smoothed the back of my hair down to cover the new tattoo on the back of my neck, before reveling in the idea of a nice hot shower before dinner. I couldn't deny it was nice to be home.

_Sophie_

I was about to leave my room and head down to the kitchen when I heard the helicopter. "Jarvis, is that our helicopter?"

"Yes, Miss Stark. Estimated time of arrival is two minutes." The AI system replied.

I raced down the hall and into the elevator, punching the button for the common area. As soon as the doors slid open I was running into the kitchen where my mom and two older brothers were already working on dinner.

"They're here! Can I go up to the landing pad?" I asked my mom with pleading eyes.

"They just got back from half way around the world, Sophie. Let's give the girls some time to breathe. They'll come down when they're ready." She handed me a knife. "Why don't you help me out with these vegetables while we wait?"

"Okay." I said, chopping up some carrots. I should've asked Dad. He was completely susceptible to my pleading eyes. But, Dad was in the lab and Mom was not so easily persuaded, so I stood in front of the cutting board and carried on with the rhythmic sound of cutting up the vegetables in front of me.

"Need any help?" Liam and his younger sister, Ella, where standing in the doorway awaiting instruction from the woman who made our home function.

"Of course. Ella, why don't you help Sophie? Liam and Andrew can go set the table." She said, taking over for Andrew so he could help Liam.

Ella and I started talking about a movie she wanted to see while the boys shuttled plates and silverware between the kitchen and the table. Over the sounds of cooking and the dishes being stacked and moved, I heard the elevator doors sliding open in the living room. I had assumed it was my dad, but when I looked up Isabelle was standing in the doorway. She looked pretty with her hair down and a yellow sundress accentuating her tanned skin.

"Shit!" Andrew swore, nearly dropping the glass he was holding.

"Izzy!" I squealed, throwing down my knife and running towards the girl who was practically my sister.

"There's my Soph!" She said, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. "Movie night in my room at eight, ok?" She whispered in my ear before releasing me from our hug.

"Isabelle, it's wonderful to have you home." My mom said, taking her turn hugging Izzy. "How was India?"

"India was fantastic, as usual." She replied, now wrapping her arms around Ella and Liam.

"Well, I can't wait to hear all about it." Andrew had set down the glass he'd been holding and was leaning against the counter.

Kyler would have made a snide remark, Sasha would have hit him, and Ella would have agreed to tell him everything, but Isabelle just smiled and said "What? You wake me up at 6 am and drag me back home from halfway across the planet and I don't even get a hug?"

As if my brother would pass up an opportunity to be in close contact with Isabelle. Sure enough he pushed off the counter and walked over to where she was standing in the middle of the kitchen. "It was 6:30, and of course you get a hug."

Everyone else had gone back to their chores, but I watched out of the corner of my eye as he pulled Izzy into the circle of his arms, tucking her head under his chin. I smiled to myself at how perfectly they fit together. Isabelle had always been like an older sister to me, but if things turned out the way I thought they would, Isabelle would be my sister for real one day.

_Sasha_

Okay, I was hiding. But to be fair, so was Kyler. After stepping off the helicopter, I had greeted my parents then gone straight to my room with my sister close behind me. "I'm going to unpack." She'd said. "Come get me when you're out of the shower." Then she ducked into her room while I continued down the hallway. After unceremoniously dumping my suitcase on the bed, I grabbed a change of clothes and went to monopolize the bathroom between my room and my sister's.

The hot water helped clear my head and soothe my muscles, and when I stepped out of the shower I felt refreshed. After slipping into the jeans and tank top I had brought, I poked my head into Kyler's room, where she was sorting her laundry. "Bathroom's all yours."

"Thanks." She said, tossing one last garment into the darks pile and getting up. "Are you heading down now?"

"No, I want to unpack. We can go down together after you shower." We both knew that I really meant that I didn't feel like facing everyone without her, but she didn't say anything about it and I certainly wasn't going to. Long conversations had always been a rarity between us. We could say anything we wanted in eight different languages, but most of the time all we needed was a glance, a blink, a change in posture to tell us what the other was thinking. It's what made us such a good team, and such evenly matched opponents.

Kyler grabbed her things and headed for the shower while I returned to my room. It took me all of five minutes to unpack (a by-product of frequent travel), so I flopped down on my soft, black comforter and pulled my favorite knife out. I had just finished polishing the blade for the third time when Kyler walked in. "Не кажется ли вам это достаточно чисто?" She asked. (Don't you think it's clean enough?)

"Você sabe como me sinto sobre minhas facas." I said. (You know how I feel about my knives.) "It should be so clear..."

"..That the last thing your opponent sees is their own reflection." She finished with a smile. "You ready to go?"

I folded up the switchblade and rolled off my bed. "Let the interrogation begin."

"Don't be so dramatic. It's not that bad." Kyler said.

"Oh, please." I punched the down button on the elevator. "It's not that bad for you because every time we do this Nolan is there distracting you with his sexy hair and chiseled jaw line."

"No, it's not that bad for me because I actually try to answer their questions. 'The weather was beautiful. The food was delicious. The landmarks were stunning.' It's all simple diplomacy."

We stepped onto the elevator and Kyler pushed the button for the common area. "So what I'm hearing is that you think Nolan's hair is sexy and that you find his jaw line attractive."

"I didn't say that."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Refused denial is the same as admittance."

"Keep this up and you're gonna find out just how clean my knife is." The elevator doors slid open and she stalked away.

The common area was a large, open area with floor to ceiling windows looking out over the city. The different areas of the space were separated by different levels, a living area on the left was sunk into the floor, and the huge dining table on the right was raised above the kitchen next to it. I could see Pepper behind the breakfast bar, pulling serving utensils from a drawer. She smiled as she noticed Kyler walking towards her.

I made a beeline for the table where everyone else was already sitting down, most of them engaged in various animated conversations. With one last deep breath I sat down and prepared myself for the inevitable.

We had all just settled down when Pepper stood up at the head of the table. "First of all, I just want to say how wonderful it is to have everyone in the same place." She said, giving a pointed look to her sons and Izzy, who where all away at school for most of the year. "I don't think you realize how much I miss having you all home. But, I know that every time one of you leaves this home, it's with the intention of bettering yourselves, and I'm very proud of all of you for that. With that said," she smiled, "I'm very glad to have you all home. Hopefully you'll stay a little longer this time."

"Here, here." Said Izzy's dad, raising his water glass in the air. Everyone around the table echoed the sentiment before digging into their dinner and delving into conversations.

"So, tell us about Japan." Aunt Sharon said, turning her head towards me and Kyler. _Here we go…_

* * *

><p><em>AN:So, I hope you guys enjoyed this __first chapter! I really want this story to be interactive for you guys, so if you go to my profile you'll find the link to a Q&A blog. You can submit questions to the character Q&A and see previews for upcoming chapters there. Please check it out, and if you have time I would love a review._

_Update: I got a request for some clarification, so here it is! The Stark kids: Andrew (22), Nolan (19), and Sophie (14). The Barton kids: Kyler and Sasha (18). The Rogers kids: Liam(17), and Ella (15). __Isabelle Banner (21). _


	2. The Gala

_Nolan_

After dinner I decided that I could use some time in the gym, because frankly I was a little bit wound up. I had been next to Kyler for all of dinner, listening to her tell everyone about her two week stay in Japan while she did this annoying thing where she tries to see how many pieces of chopped carrot she can sneak onto my plate before I notice (23, in case you were wondering). And all the while she just kept flipping her hair and wafting the smell of her pomegranate shampoo in my direction as if didn't already want to run my fingers through it. So, headed to the gym in hopes of taking my tension out on a punching bag.

But of course, nothing in my life is that simple. On my way to the gym I heard music coming through the open door of the dance studio. As toddlers Sasha and Kyler had been enrolled in dance classes as part of one final, desperate attempt at normalcy. Sasha had begged to quit after four lessons, but Kyler stuck with it. After an unfortunate accident involving one of my mother's favorite vases, my dad had decided that she should have a designated place for her artistic pursuits, ergo a dance studio in the basement.

I should have just gotten back into the elevator, or just ignored it and walked past, but that would have been way too easy. No, instead I decided to go walking in as if I expected to find someone else in there.

Her short curls were tied back in a red scarf and she was wearing her ballet shoes, the hard kind that she likes to threaten to hit me with. In her hand was a tambourine. I watched in awe as she kicked it with the toe of her shoe, behind her back, over her head, and in front of her face as she hopped and spun her way across the room with the strangest expression. She looked… happy; really, truly happy and at peace. She finished on the ground with the tambourine over her head and her other arm stretched out towards me, almost as if she were inviting me to join in, not that I really noticed though because her black rehearsal tutu left the vast majority of her powerful legs exposed.

"What, no smart remark?" She asked, getting up off the floor.

"No, I think I got a piece of carrot stuck between my teeth." I said.

"I'm glad to hear you're eating them." She took a sip from her water bottle then slipped off her tutu.

"Yeah, I had an extra helping tonight. Its weird though, because I don't seem to remember putting it on my plate."

She shrugged under the lace sleeves of her leotard. "Well, carrots are good for the eyes and the brain." Then she bent over to untie her shoes, proving that my eyesight was just fine, but my brain might need some help. _Don't look at her butt. Don't look at her butt. Don't look at – aaaaand I totally looked. Dammit._

"So did you need something or do you just have a secret fondness for the fine arts that I didn't know about?" She asked.

"Oh, ummm." _Fuck. _"I was actually looking for a sparring partner."

A wicked grin spread across her face. _Oh crap. _"Well, I happen to be free. Meet me in the gym in five. We can work on your speed, or rather lack thereof."

Kill me. Actually, don't worry about it because I'm pretty sure that's what Kyler Barton will be doing in five minutes.

_Sophie_

I knocked gently on the door to Isabelle's room. "Password?" She teased.

"Umm. I brought ice-cream?"

"Enter." When I did I saw Isabelle perched on her big, four-poster bed, brushing her hair in long, even strokes. "Come sit." She said, patting the deep purple comforter and setting the brush aside.

Every time Izzy came home from a trip, we spent an evening catching up over ice-cream and a movie. She loved to tell me all of the exciting and interesting things that had happened to her in the far-away lands she loved so much, and she always listened intently as I told her what had been going on at home.

Tonight, the movie was _Pride and Prejudice _and the ice-cream flavor was fudge swirl.

"Izzy." I said, as the credits began to roll. "Do you love Andrew?"

"Of course I do, Soph. I love all of you guys."

I rolled my eyes. "But you're _in love_ with Drew, aren't you?"

"I don't know." She admitted. "Shouldn't you be getting to bed?"

I turned the tv off and stood up. "Yes, mom."

She gave me a warm hug. "Goodnight, Sophie."

"Goodnight."

**Fifteen hours later**

_Sasha_

It hadn't really occurred to me how accustomed we were to formal events until Sophie swept into my room toting a garment bag over her shoulder. Within half an hour Izzy was perched in front of our makeup desk having her hair wrangled into an intricate braided hairstyle by Ella, who was sporting hair curlers and a pale blue robe. Kyler stood in front of the sink in nothing but her underwear and a tank top with a curling iron in hand, arranging her hair to ensure that in covered her tattoo. Pop music circulated through the space and Sophie, who was supposed to be letting her fingernails dry, was instead dancing around my room in a button-up shirt that had clearly been filched from one of her brothers as it nearly reached her knees.

As Isabelle got up to change, Sophie and I made quick work of Ella's hair, removing the curlers and letting it fall in voluminous curls around her shoulders. I was nearly done with her makeup when Sophie handed me a tube of venetian red lipstick. "Trust me. It's just what she needs."

Just as I finished applying the last of Ella's makeup, Isabelle walked back into the room. A midnight blue sari draped elegantly over her curves and a column of silver bangles clattered together on her wrist. Her ears where adorned with simple, silver earrings that matched the exquisite embroidery of the garment.

"You do realize Andrew's brain is going to completely short-circuit when he sees you in this?" Sophie asked, grinning broadly.

"Don't be silly." Isabelle said, a deep blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Where did you get this?" Ella asked, marveling at the embroidery. "It's so detailed."

"Right before I left India, I went to visit Matrika, the woman who runs the clinic I volunteer at. She said she had been saving it as a gift for all of my help and that I should wear it…when I had a special occasion. Shouldn't you guys be getting dressed?"

Kyler glanced at me, raising an eyebrow. _She's still not a very good liar is she?_

Nonetheless, everyone else did need to get dressed. I followed Kyler into her room and helped her slip into a dark purple number that exposed most of her back and brought out the green in her eyes.

"Well, the good news is, Dad will be so busy freaking out about your dress, he won't even notice your new tattoo." I said as she laced me into a charcoal grey mermaid-style gown.

"Good." She said. "That means my plan will work."

"Would it really be that big of a deal if he did find out? I mean, it's not like it's your first tattoo." I said, subconsciously running a finger over the white delta tattoo on my inner arm, barely visible against my pale skin.

"Yeah, but the last time I got inked I had his permission, and my sobriety."

I smirked, remembering our birthday celebration during our layover in London. "You already wanted the tat, the alcohol just encouraged you to act on your desires."

"Somehow, I think all Dad's going to care about is the drunk tattoo part, not the meaning behind it. Alright, you're ready." She decided.

Back in my room, everyone else was finished getting ready. Sophie was twirling around the room in a floaty green dress with a tiered skirt, and Izzy was clasping a strand of pearls around Ella's neck. Between her elegant curls, red lipstick, and lacy black dress, she looked like a movie star straight from the 1940's. We were slipping on our heels and double-checking our teeth for lipstick stains when the guys arrived.

When I opened the door, I was met with a wall of tuxedo-clad chest. Even in my heels, I had to tilt my head up to look Liam in the face.

"Sasha. You look… amazing." He said, giving me one of his signature crooked grins. _No, don't smile at me like that. I'm trying to be annoyed with you, you giant man-puppy._

"How can you even tell from up there?"

"Sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you over all that jealousy." He said, cupping a hand around his ear.

I wasn't going to let the fact that he was currently five inches taller than me bring me down, so I pulled out the sharpest weapon in my arsenal: his age. "Are you even old enough to go to this party? I'm pretty sure it's adults only."

He shook his head. "Low blow, Sash."

Nolan's head popped into the doorway. "Is this particularly important flirting, or can we get this show on the road?"

"Mademoiselle." He said, offering his arm. I had learned a long time ago that telling Liam I didn't need his chivalry was about as effective as stirring tar with a plastic fork, so I rolled my eyes and slipped my arm through his.

Ella rested her hand in the crook of his other elbow and we headed down the hallway towards the elevator. Kyler, Nolan, and Sophie were behind us, followed by Andrew (who looked a bit dumbstruck) and Izzy (who was blushing furiously.) Together we took the elevator to the garage, and settled into the waiting limousine.

_Ella_

The gala looked like something out of a movie. A wide balcony overlooked the ballroom, where elegantly dressed men and women milled about. Waiters wove in and out of the crowds carrying trays of food and champagne and live music drifted throughout the space, adding to the gentle hum of polite conversation. From my spot on the balcony I could see Isabelle speaking to a small group of SHIELD's higher-ups while Andrew stood beside her, listening intently. Sophie stood in the corner of the room, having an animated conversation with a pretty dark haired woman. They must have been talking about computers, because Sophie had that excited look on her face that she only gets when someone understands what she's saying about routers and encryption codes. Off to the side of the room, Liam looked a little uncomfortable sitting at a table with two agents who looked like they were arguing. I was searching for the others when a figure appeared next to me.

"A lovely affair, isn't it?" Asked the man. He was about my height, though at least a decade my senior, and very slim with dark hair and a strong English accent.

I nodded. "I don't believe we've met." I said, offering my hand.

He shook it gently. "Dr. Benedict Martin, SHIELD science and research division."

"Ella Rogers." I said.

"Oh, I know who you are Miss Rogers." It wasn't unusual to meet people who already knew my name. Everyone from Good Morning America to Elle magazine wanted an interview with the children of the world's most controversial super heroes. Tony's team of lawyers could only do so much to keep the press at bay, and our pictures could often be found on the covers of tabloid magazines accompanied by ridiculous headlines like: "Isabelle Banner's secret pregnancy" and "Sophie Stark dating grown men at just 14!" Obviously none of that was true, but it meant that our names were out there, like it or not.

"It's lovely to meet you." I said, putting on my brightest smile and hoping none of the ridiculous lipstick Sophie had insisted on was stuck to my teeth.

"Likewise." He said. "I hear you're quite the adventurer, running all over the city."

"Oh, no. I just like to take pictures of the buildings. Sometimes if I can stay somewhere for a long time I'll do a sketch, but it's not like I'm an explorer or anything."

"So you like art then?" He asked, sipping his champagne.

"I love it. Drawing, painting, photography, even music. It makes me feel whole, you know? What about you, any artistic pursuits?

He looked over the edge of the railing at the dance floor below, his eyes following a pale woman with platinum blonde hair. "I'm more a man of science. Although, I must say I have a profound respect for my counterparts in the field. The combat training alone seems exhaustive. But, I'm sure you would know more about that than me." He chuckled.

I laughed along lightly. "Hardly. My brother has top marks in combat, but it was never my forte. I've always thought my hands were meant for creating art, not bruises."

His eyes flicked back to the woman he had been watching before. She was slipping into a side hallway, probably in search of a restroom. "Well, it's been wonderful to meet you Miss Rogers, but I'm afraid I must excuse myself." He said with a nod.

"Nice to meet you too. Enjoy the party!" I said, and with that he walked away.

_Kyler_

"Does your daddy know about your new ink?" The words made the hairs on my arms stand up, not because of what was said, but because of who said them.

Resisting the instinct that told my hand to fly to the back of my neck, I turned around. "I'm a big girl, Nolan. I don't need his approval."

"So, then I wouldn't need his permission to dance with you either?" He asked, raising one eyebrow in that way that made me unsure whether I wanted to punch or kiss him.

"You'd need mine." I replied, snagging a flute of champagne from a passing waiter. I would have preferred strawberry vodka, but apparently we were trying to be classy.

"As if I could force you into it." He chuckled as he grabbed the champagne from my hand and replaced it with a glass of punch.

I pouted. "Party pooper."

"Delinquent." He countered, raising the honey-gold drink to his own lips.

"Hypocrite." I mumbled into my stupid, non-alcoholic punch.

"You're avoiding my question."

"You didn't ask me one." I replied, calculating my chances of sneaking more champagne before the night ended. The odds came out in the 'slim to none' range.

Nolan took a step closer to me, and focusing would have been so much easier if my nose hadn't been even with the subtle cologne wafting off his pulse point. "May I have this dance?" The words ghosted over my cheek before reaching my ear, erasing my earlier indecision. I definitely wanted to kiss him.

I nodded wordlessly, hoping beyond hope that he couldn't tell what I was thinking as he led me out onto the dance floor.

The song was a slow waltz, and as he pulled me to him I had a bizarre flashback to the two of us learning the dance in the living room of the Tower. It had been years ago on a random Saturday afternoon, when Ella had come downstairs to find her parents swaying their way around the coffee table in the living room. Steve had decided that she should learn and before long all of had been roped into the impromptu dance lesson. I mostly remember that day because my parents had joined in, showing off an entire skill set that I hadn't even realized they possessed. It had been their faces that caught my attention, as their feet dragged curves and lines over the carpet; they looked each other in the eye with a rare display of unwavering affection.

I smiled at the memory, moving my own feet in time with the music as Nolan and I breezed through the dance. I glanced around the vast room, desperate not to meet my partner's gaze and afraid of what might happen if I did. _Stop it_, I mentally reprimanded myself. _Is this what you want to be? Some weak, swooning, little schoolgirl? No, so knock it off._

He lowered his head to whisper in my ear. "You shouldn't be allowed out of the house looking this good, people are starting to stare." I had noticed, of course, the small gathering of senior agents rimming the dance floor.

"They're staring because they can't figure out where on earth I stashed a gun and two knives while wearing this." I replied pragmatically.

He spun me and I felt his eyes wander up and down my body, searching for the answer. He reeled me back into him and asked "Where _did_ you stash them?"

Despite the dizzying sensation of his hand on the bare skin of my back, I managed a sly smile. "Wouldn't you like to know."

He gave me one last spin as the song ended and I could've sworn he knew exactly what this proximity was doing to me because he just rested his forehead against mine and let his gold-brown eyes bear into my own pale green ones. I had to get out. Soon. I had to get out of there before I did something stupid.

As our small audience burst into a round of generous applause, I made a beeline for the nearest exit, bursting into the abandoned hallway just as Nolan's hand grabbed mine. "Kyler, what's wrong?" I wrenched my hand from his grasp and leaned against the wall, putting some space between us. Somewhere down the hall a light was on, casting shadows over half his face and making his messy, brown hair look especially appealing.

Suddenly, as if acting of its own accord, my hand reached out and snatched his tie, dragging him to me so fast that he just barely had enough time to catch himself on the wall behind me. I saw the shock register on his face for a brief moment before my lips met his.

With one hand still clinging to his tie and the other winding through his hair, I pulled him closer to me and let myself be stupid, just this once. The kiss was a long way from cautious. He left his hands where they were, trapping me between his body and the wall while I made impatient demands of his lips, demands which he was all too eager to meet. As his tongue skimmed my bottom lip I fought to silence a moan of pleasure, instead nipping playfully at his lip before granting him the access he had wordlessly requested. Liquid fire flooded my veins as he snaked an arm around my waist, pulling my hips against him, while his other hand tangled in my hair.

The need to breathe finally forced him away from me. "Must have been one hell of a dance." He said between ragged breaths and kisses along my neck.

"Oh, shut up." I smirked pulling him back to me.

* * *

><p><em>AN: You can click the link on my profile to visit the Q&A blog and see asset profiles, chapter previews, and have your questions answered. _


	3. The Tail

_Liam  
><em>

It was nearly one in the morning when we got back home, and I've never been more relieved to fall into bed. I had had fun, and met some really cool agents, but there was also a lot of pressure. It was like I could feel the weight of everyone's expectations crushing me the second I said my name. It's not my parents' fault that they're SHIELD legends, but every now and then I found myself wondering what it would be like to have parents who were accountants or history teachers.

By the time I woke up the next morning it was almost seven. I took my time going through my workout in the gym, before taking a quick shower and heading to the main kitchen to start breakfast.

"Morning." Sasha said, walking into the kitchen and making a cup of coffee. She must have taken a shower after her morning run because I caught the light citrusy scent of her body wash when I walked past her to get a mixing bowl. Not that I know kind of body wash she uses, I'm just assuming that's what it was.

"Good morning to you too." I said, pulling a box of pancake mix from the pantry and debating whether or not I could fit the whole thing into one mixing bowl.

"I never said it was good." She said, perching herself on the counter next to the stove. "And you don't have to make that much, nobody over the age of 22 is home."

"What do you mean?" I asked pulling the milk and eggs from the fridge.

"Pepper left for a conference in Beijing at 03:00 hours, and SHIELD requested everyone else around 05:00 hours for some sort of international catastrophe. Even Uncle Bruce went in. Andrew and Izzy are in charge."

"Is that really necessary? I mean, Sophie, Ella, and I are the only legal minors. How much trouble can we get into?"

"I think they're mostly concerned about leaving an engineering prodigy, three lethal teenagers, and a hacking expert together in one building with no supervision. I don't think Ella is even part of the perceived problem." She paused to take a sip of her coffee. "You know, when I was your age we didn't have fancy pancake mixes. We made them from scratch and cooked them over a fire."

"You were my age two weeks ago Sasha, not two centuries." I said, trying to be irritated, but I caught the glint of mischief in her grey-blue eyes that said she was just trying to get under my skin. _Gosh, she has gorgeous eyes._ Yanking my attention back to the task at hand, I began sorting out the ingredients. At which point I realized I was going to need the measuring cup that was currently in the drawer beneath Sasha's butt.

I came to stand directly in front of her, just an arms length away. She quirked an eyebrow over her mug of coffee. "Did you need something?"

"Measuring cup." I said, glancing at the drawer behind her legs. When I looked back up I couldn't help but notice the way the counter had evened out our heights. Usually the nine inch difference between us put her face level with my sternum, but now all I had to do was take take a step forward, tilt my head down a little, and I could… _No you can't, she doesn't care for you like that._

She drained the contents of her mug. "Looks like you've got a problem."

"Can you please just move your legs for a second?"

I wondered if she could feel the way the air between us became electrically charged when she asked "And if I don't?"

"Then I'll move them for you." Had she gotten closer, or had I?

She leaned back on her hands, and I was equally disappointed and grateful that she had put a little more distance between us. "I kind of like the sound of that."

"Suit yourself." I said, immediately scooping her up and plopping her back down on the counter next to the sink as quickly as possible.

"That spot was comfy." She pouted.

_Oh gosh, don't think about how cute she is when she's pouting._ "Sorry." I shrugged and pulled out the measuring cup I had been looking for.

She refilled her mug before returning to her original spot, letting her feet swing over the floor as she watched me start mixing the pancake batter. Sasha is sort of difficult to explain. Despite her small size, she tends to have a very… commanding presence. It can be pretty intense sometimes.

Especially times like this when she's watching me like she's deciding the best way to tear me apart with her bare hands. "What?" I asked, after what felt like an hour. It had probably only been a few minutes.

"Nothing." She said shortly, still giving me that unnerving look.

I was about to press the issue when the elevator doors opened and Ella and Sophie walked in with Andrew and Nolan trailing behind them, bringing with them a flurry of conversation.

**Ten hours later**

_Nolan  
><em>

"So, are you gonna explain it to me?" I asked, hauling myself onto the balance beam.

"Explain what?" Kyler asked. I was currently having my butt kicked at a game called "sniper" which was basically Sasha and Kyler's version of dodge ball, involving two players, a gymnastics beam and a bb gun.

Despite our actions last night, we seemed to be back to square one, teasing flirting, constantly teetering on the edge of something more. I wasn't going to push it though. If Kyler regretted what had happened last night, then we could go right back to being whatever we had been before, and I wasn't going to try to turn it into something else. Which probably would have been a lot easier if I hadn't become so hopelessly addicted to her.

"The tattoo."

She pretended to think about it. "Alright, if you can avoid my next shot, I'll tell you why I got the tattoo."

I watched closely as she took aim, somersaulting down the beam as soon as she went for the trigger. "Ha! You didn't get me!" I cried victoriously.

"Congratulations. You're finally on the board." She said dryly, putting the gun away. I hopped off the beam and sat down on the couch in the corner. "You sore?" I asked, noticing the way she rubbed her shoulder.

"No." I narrowed my eyes at her. "Okay, I'm a little stiff." She admitted.

"Come here." I said and she obediently settled herself on the floor in front of me. "How did this happen?" I asked, kneading at a knot in her shoulder. It felt nice to be in close contact with her again, making her inhale sharply as I worked out the knots I had created in the taught muscles of her back.

"Some jerk had me pinned against a wall last night."

"You didn't seem to mind." I said, working my hands up toward her neck. She closed her eyes, humming her appreciation, though I wasn't sure if it was for the massage or the previous night's activities. "So," I ran my thumb over the little arrow, "what's the story? I know about the delta tattoo, that one makes sense. But, what's with the arrow?"

She rested her head against my knee. "It's about choices; A reminder to myself of the impact that a single decision can make."I kept massaging her shoulders, hoping she would give a more detailed explanation. "Do you know how my parents met?" She asked.

That was a little out of the blue. "Yeah, they were 'STRIKE team: Delta, SHIELD's finest team of assassins.'" I said. "Everyone knows that."

"That's true, but it's not how they met. My mom wasn't always… the way she is now. I won't waste your time with details, but she had gotten SHIELD's attention in a bad way. My dad was sent to kill her." She paused for a moment, letting me absorb that little tidbit. "He told me that to this day he doesn't know why he didn't shoot her. By all accounts he should have let that arrow fly- he had no reason to trust her. Can you imagine if he had though?" I tried to wrap my mind around all the ways the world would be different. In the end it came down to one startling fact: Kyler would have never been born. "That's why I got the arrow." She finished. "As a reminder that our actions have consequences."

I was about to respond whenElla appeared in the doorway. "There you are! We're going to the movies in twenty minutes if you guys want to come."

Kyler rose to her feet. "Sounds fun, Ells. I'll be up in a few."

Ella turned her head towards me. "Yeah, same here."

"Great!" she said, heading back towards back into the elevator. "I'll go tell the others."

After hitting the showers ("_Separately. _We're on a schedule."), Kyler and I took the elevator to the garage.

Kyler was already pulling on her favorite leather jacket when I joined the group.

"That one's impossible to park." Andrew was saying. Apparently they were trying to decide which car to take.

"This one." Sasha said, tossing a set of keys to Isabelle.

Izzy's brown eyes glanced down at the insignia on the key. "But it only seats five."

Kyler picked up her motorcycle helmet. "Sasha and I can ride our bikes. Who wants to come with?" Nobody. "Ella?" She tried. "Come on, live a little. It'll be fun." Kyler persisted, handing Ella a helmet too. She carefully pulled it on, tucking her hair up into it.

"I guess that settles it then." Andrew said, and the rest of us piled into the car, leading the way to the movie theater.

**Two and a half hours later**

_Kyler  
><em>

We where being followed. We were just a few miles from home when I noticed the car that had been behind us for several blocks. "Sasha, we've got a tail. Black SUV two cars behind us." I said, knowing she could hear me through the bluetooth in the helmets.

"Copy that. Threat level?" I could feel Ella's arm tightening around my waist as she and Sasha awaited my threat assessment.

"Probably just photographers." I said, trying not to scare Ella. "We should split from the car just in case though. I want to see who they're after."

"Got it. We'll go right on the next side street."

"Call Nolan." I ordered into the speaker. He picked up after the first ring. "We've got a tail." I said without preamble. "Sasha and I are splitting off. Are you armed?"

"All good here. And you guys?"

"If one of us has to fight, the other will get Ella out." I said. "There can't be more than six assailants, we should be fine."

"Alright, I'll tell Andrew so we can reroute. We'll meet you back home." He agreed. "And you better be in one piece when you get there."

"Or what?" I smirked. "You'll spank me?"

"Don't tempt me." He said firmly before hanging up.

Sasha and I split off at the next side street as planned, and continued zig-zagging our way back to the Tower through alleys and side streets. Every time I thought we had managed to lose our tail, that black sedan would turn a corner and appear behind us again. They weren't even trying to be subtle anymore.

The fact that they had followed us and not the car was either good, or really bad. On the one hand, it meant I was probably right about it being paparazzi looking for easier targets than a car with tinted bulletproof glass. On the other hand, it meant that if I was wrong, there was going to be a fight before we made it home.

"You alright back there?" I asked Ella as we turned back onto a busier should buy us a little time to distance ourselves from them.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." She said.

"That's probably motion sickness." I replied. "Take a couple deep breaths. Trust me, you do not want to toss your cookies with that helmet on."

"Turn left up here." Sasha said. I did as she instructed, turning left, then right, then right again.

"It's a dead end." I said.

My sister swore under her breath as we both hit the brakes, coming to a stop at the end of the alley. Naturally, it was at that moment that the SUV rounded the corner, boxing us in.

"Guys," Ella whimpered. "I have a really bad feeling about this."

I took a mental inventory of the situation as the doors of the vehicle opened. "Ella, keep your helmet on, and follow me." I said as I took my helmet off, preparing for the fight ahead. Sasha already had her Glock drawn and aimed at the large men that were stepping out of the vehicle. I pulled my own gun from inside my jacket, covering Ella as I led her behind a dumpster. "Wait here." I ordered, not waiting for her to acknowledge the instruction before turning back towards our attackers. Six beefy guys with handguns had emerged from the car. Okay, so they weren't paparazzi.

The one in front leveled his weapon at my face. "Come with us and nobody gets hurt." He said.

"The gun pointed at my face doesn't really scream 'non-violent' to me." I said, aiming my own weapon at the space between his eyes.

"I don't wanna hurt you, sweetheart." That did it.

Ella yelped when the gun went off, but Sasha had been ready. As I launched myself at one of the other gunmen, she sprang forward as well, disarming one and landing on another. After that I was too caught up with the three men attacking me to keep up on her progress.

The one that I had shot was slowly crawling back to the vehicle, gasping in pain as his shattered kneecap dragged along the rough concrete. I ducked as one of my assailants kicked out at me, swiping his other leg out from under him. One of the others was on me immediately, but I blocked his hit and landed a hard kick in his chest. We were faring pretty well, until I felt a sharp prick in the side of my neck.

"Vous devez partir! Rentrer à la maison maintenant!" I called out, hoping none of our attackers spoke French. (You need to leave! Go back home now!)

"Je ne vais pas laisser sans vous!" Sasha said, throwing another punch. Of course she would refuse to leave without me. The edges of my vision were already blurring. Whatever drug they'd hit me with was working fast. If Sasha had any chance of getting out, she needed to do it now.

"Watashitachi wa ōku no jikan o motteinai!" I insisted, switching to Japanese so Ella wouldn't understand that time was running out. I was becoming less stable on my feet, slow and inaccurate in my movements. I looked over to her, telling her that she needed to leave in that language that only the two of us knew.

Finally, she understood. With one swift kick to her opponent's trachea she got back on her bike and pulled it up next to the dumpster. Ella was barely on the seat when she shot off, steering with one hand and preparing to shoot with the other.

The last thing I saw as a rough hand wrapped around my neck was my sister's red hair trailing behind her as the two of them rounded the corner and sped out of sight.

_Sasha_

Liam and Nolan were waiting in the garage for us. Ella had barely been able to make the call to her brother, telling him where to meet us, and by the time we pulled in she was visibly shaking and on the verge of tears. They rushed up to us before I even killed the engine, Liam taking off his sister's helmet and helping her off the bike, and Nolan looking lost for words. "Take her to Andrew, make sure she's not going into shock. Then get Sophie and meet us in the office." I said to Liam.

"What happened back there?" Nolan asked, following me into the elevator.

"It was six on two. They drugged her and she told me to get Ella out." I said, slamming the button for the floor that housed the private labs. "They would have taken the three of us if she hadn't stayed behind."

"Do you have any idea who's behind this?" He asked. The elevator doors opened and we both stepped out, walking briskly to the room at the end of the hall.

"Nope, but we're going to find out." I said as we reached our destination. The office had been our classroom once upon a time, and it was exactly what we needed. "Jarvis, secure the room and get my mother on the line." I said, switching on the holo-table and firing up the monitors against the far wall. Almost instantly the room was plunged into darkness as the blinds slapped shut and the door locked from the inside.

Light washed over us as my mother's figure appeared over the holo-table. "Mom, are you with Dad?" I asked, cutting off her greeting.

"Yes." She said calmly. "Why?"

"Where are you guys?"

"You know I can't tell you tha-" She started, but I cut her off again.

"Kyler's just been drugged and kidnapped. Where are you guys?" I repeated firmly.

She knew I was really asking how long it was going to take them to get back. She tucked her hair being her ear. "We're grounded. I'm assuming you haven't seen the news?" I shook my head. "We'll be home as soon as possible, I promise. In the meantime, you need to do what you can. Do you understand?" I nodded. "Alright." And with that she was gone.

Sometimes I wondered if when she looked at me, my mother still saw the scared little three year-old that would run into her room after every nightmare. But now I was living one, and that girl was gone - she had learned that Mommy has nightmares too. She had become me, and I had learned how to face my nightmares.

As soon as the image disappeared, the door unlocked and Liam came bursting in with Isabelle and Sophie right behind him. "You need to see this." Isabelle said, handing me her tablet. The screen was flipping between multiple newscasts, all of which read 'breaking news' somewhere on the screen.

"… has been deemed an act of international cyber-terrorism. Sadly, the hack has already resulted in three fatal plane crashes, and airlines are scrambling for a solution before more lives are lost." I flipped the tablet off.

"I don't think there's a connection, but stay up to date just in case." I turned to Liam. "Ella?"

"Andrew thinks she'll be okay once she gets the adrenaline out of her system." He didn't mention the wet spot on his shirt from where his sister had been crying on his shoulder.

"Okay, Sophie I need you on every traffic camera within ten blocks of here." I said, pointing to the map on the holo-table. She nodded, brushing her ginger hair behind her ears and settling in front of the screens across the room. "Nolan, you need to get whatever you can from the audio and video feeds in our helmets. Liam, stay here and help them." I turned to Isabelle. "Grab a jacket and a field kit. You're coming with me."

"Where are we going?"

"To get answers." We needed to get whatever evidence we could from the scene of the attack before it was compromised.

The alley was eerily quiet for New York. "Here." I said, pulling a flashlight from the glove compartment. I handed it to Izzy before pulling my own from my jacket pocket. The two lights swept slowly over the shadowy area, sliding over the walls, the dumpster, and the mess on the ground. I could hear Isabelle's sharp intake of breath when her light found the thick smear of blood on the concrete.

"It's not hers." I assured her. Nodding, she got to work, slipping on latex gloves and opening up the field kit she had brought while I did my best to light up her current workspace. They hadn't left much behind other than a decent sized blood sample,a couple of bullets and casings, and Kyler's bike and helmet.

"It's a good start." Izzy said, squeezing my shoulder. She got back into the car as I mounted Kyler's bike. "Stick close to the car okay?" I wasn't sure if it was so I could watch her back or so she could watch mine. Maybe it was a little bit of both.

* * *

><p><em>Okay, if you haven't visited the Q&amp;A blog yet, you're missing out! Please head over there and ask some questions and check out chapter previews and Asset Profiles. And of course, if you've got a minute to review it would make my day!<em>


	4. The Fallout

_Andrew  
><em>

It was well after nightfall when Sasha and Isabelle got home. "Ella's asleep. The adrenaline rush knocked her right out. Everyone else is in the office."

Sasha nodded. "Thanks. You get that to the lab." She said to Isabelle before taking off down the hall.

"So where are we?" I asked as the two of us walked into the lab.

"What do you mean?"

"This whole situation. What do we do? Shouldn't we file a missing person's report or something?" I asked. She wouldn't meet my gaze as she unpacked the field kit. "Isabelle." I tried. Finally, her brown eyes met mine.

"We can't." She said, although her face betrayed her guilt on the matter. "There's just been an act of international terrorism, the NYPD is going to put this on the back burner. Besides, between Sophie, Sasha, and I there will have been at least ten illegal acts committed in this building before midnight. We really don't need the police hanging around for that."

"Are you sure about this?" I asked.

She took a deep breath, a sure sign that she was stressed. "Honestly? No, but I trust Sasha to do everything she can to get Kyler back. Until someone who's equipped to deal with this situation gets home, I'm going to trust that she knows the best course of action."

"Then I will too. How can I help?" I asked.

"Well, you can take these to your brother for starters. And maybe stay in the office? I don't want you to be here while I'm doing illegal things." She gave me a sad smile and handed me the canisters from her kit, each one making a metallic jangling sound as they transferred hands.

"If you need anything, I'll be right down the hall." I said.

As I walked out the door, she picked up her phone. "Hi, Daddy. Yes I'm okay. I need your help with something."

*Kyler*

"What is this?" I didn't know who was speaking, but he sounded angry. Keeping my eyes closed, I tried to assess the situation. Whatever I had been drugged with was wearing off, but I could feel bindings on my hands and feet and I knew I wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight until it wore off completely.

"We got the girl, just like you asked." Said another voice on my left. "She put up one hell of a fight too. Shot Raymer in the knee before we were able to drug her. You said this was gonna be an easy mission with minimal resistance."

"I did." Said the first voice coldly. He had a strong English accent, probably from a middle class home near London. "And It would have been if you imbeciles had gotten the right girl. This one's of no use."

A door opened behind me. "Now, now Dr. Ashby. I'm sure we can find some use for her." The voice was a woman's this time, her accent suggesting that she was Scandinavian. "What happened?"

The second man, the american one, spoke again. "It was her, a redhead, and some other girl who was a couple inches taller than them. She never took her helmet off so I didn't get a good look at her face. This one and the redhead were both armed and trained. After we hit her with the drugs she started yelling at the other in French I think, then some other language I didn't recognize. Maybe Chinese? Anyway, Red drove off with the tall one and Blondie here hit the ground not long after." I focused on keeping my breath steady and pretending to be passed out, but my mind was suddenly buzzing. _Sasha and Ella must have gotten away, which means I just have to hold out until someone comes for me._

"I told you to get the girl with the blonde curls. She said she had almost no training." Dr. Ashby said. "It was probably the one with the helmet on, you moron." _They were after Ella._

"You said to get the blonde, and I did. Not my fault you didn't factor in more than one blonde girl." Replied the second man.

"Without the Rogers girl, all of our research will have been for nothing!" Shouted the doctor.

"Calm down, Ashby. I'm sure this one will prove herself useful. Take her to the sunroom and wake her up." Ordered the woman. "The good doctor and I have some other matters to attend to before Monsieur Lagarde arrives. Oh, and I suggest you come up with a way to explain yourself before he does. Lagarde pays you and your team good money for good work, but this was less than satisfactory." I heard heels clicking on the floor as she walked away.

_Liam  
><em>

It was well past midnight, and we had made little progress in our search for answers. In fact, it seemed like every time someone came up with a new piece of information we acquired one answer and five new questions. Sophie had managed to get a look at the vehicle's plates, but they weren't registered in any DMV records, and Nolan hadn't been able to glean much from the helmets. The biggest breakthrough of the night had taken place when Izzy came scurrying in from the lab down the hall.

"I have hacked six databases with increasing illegality and finally found a match to the blood sample from the scene. It belongs to one Jonas Raymer. He's a known mercenary."

"Soph, can you figure out who the last person to hire Raymer was?" I asked. Sophie nodded, turning back to the computers in front of her.

"Where is everyone?" Izzy asked, toying with the end of her long, dark braid. Save for me and Sophie, the office was deserted.

"Nolan took the bullets and casings down to the workshop, Andrew is checking on Ella, and Sasha said she needed to 'do something useful.' I think she's getting frustrated."

She nodded. "You should go make sure she's okay. The last thing we need is for her to start making poor decisions out of anger."

"You're probably right. Make sure you and Sophie get to bed soon, okay?" She nodded, giving me a tiny smile. With that, I headed out the door.

I found Sasha in the range next to the armory, taking shot after shot at the targets lining the walls. When the magazine was empty, she pulled her knife from her belt, flipping it open an sending it hurdling towards the target so fast that I nearly missed it.

"Sasha? Are you okay?" I knew what her answer would be before she even opened her mouth. I had seen her with sprains and fractures and blood trickling down her face and every single time she just smiled up at me with a storm brewing in her silver-blue eyes and said "I'm fine." But not today.

"I should have taken the shot."

I eased the gun from her hand and she looked at it as if realizing for the first time that she had pulled it out. "You didn't have a clean shot. What if you had missed?"

"Did I miss?" she said indicating the neatly butchered targets.

I didn't know what to say. I knew she needed something from me, but I didn't know exactly what. I settled for putting a hand on her shoulder, and took it as a small victory that she didn't shrug it off. "Even if you had made that shot, what would you have done? You were outmanned, outgunned, and trying to protect Ella." I took a deep breath. "Thank you, by the way, for doing that. I didn't think it was possible to feel both guilty and grateful at the same time. You took care of my sister without any thought to your own personal safety, and I owe you for that. If you had made a different call, I would probably be standing where you are right now."

Her right hand absently went to trace the delta tattoo on her inner arm, the one that mirrored her sister's. "Between the two of them, Kyler had the best chance of coming out of this alive." Someone who didn't know her that well wouldn't have detected the slight change in tone on the word 'alive,' but I was someone who knew her very well. I could tell she was fighting to keep her breaths even beneath my hand.

"Sasha, tell me what you need."

She finally turned to face me and I realized that Sasha Barton, the indestructible girl, was broken.

"I need my sister."

She fell apart quietly, hot tears soaking into my shirt as she rested her forehead against my chest.

I could've said a lot of things in that moment. I could have told her how I felt, or that we would get Kyler back, or that everyone was doing everything they could, or that this wasn't her fault, but I finally knew what she needed. She needed someone to hold her together, just for a little while.

So I did.

_Andrew_

It was nearly two in the morning by the time I managed to coax Sophie out of the office, staying behind for a few minutes to put things back in order. As I passed the lab on my way to the elevator, I noticed that the computer was still on and in front of it was Isabelle's sleeping form. Her arms were resting on the table, cradling her head between them. She must have been intending to go to bed and gotten sidetracked because, like me, she wore sweatpants and an old t-shirt.

I didn't want to wake her, so I carefully lifted her into my arms and carried her back to her room, pulling the covers up to her chin after setting her on the bed. I was about to switch off the lamp and leave when her hand closed around my wrist.

"Will you stay? I don't want to be alone tonight." She mumbled sleepily. She looked so … fragile. I knew I couldn't deny her request, even if I had wanted to.

"Okay." I nodded and she wordlessly scooted over, making a spot for me on the bed. As I flicked the lamp off she tucked her head under my chin and I remembered how cuddly she was when she slept. Happy to oblige, I wrapped an arm around her waist feeling the familiar fabric of one of my t-shirts beneath my fingers. I smiled, pulling her closer and letting our legs tangle up beneath the sheets. She could steal every shirt I owned and I wouldn't mind one bit. How could I when she looked this beautiful in them? With that thought in mind and the sweet smell of her hair beneath my nose, I finally drifted off to sleep.

I awoke to Isabelle crying out. She was tangled in the sheets, her breathing shallow and uneven. The warm light of the lamp fell across her face as I flicked it on. "Isabelle!" I said. "Isabelle, wake up. It's just a dream."

Her dark brown eyes flew open as she gasped for air. "Andrew." She breathed, and I noticed the tear tracks glistening on her cheeks.

"Isabelle, what's wrong?" I asked, sitting up with my back against the headboard. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

She shook her head, indicating that she didn't want to talk about it at all, but nonetheless she said through fresh tears, "I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything. She was right there bleeding out in front of me and I was stuck."

"Isabelle." I said, gently brushing away the tears from her cheeks. Before I even realized what had happened she had crawled into my lap and tucked her head under my chin. "It wasn't real." I assured her, wrapping her up in my arms. "Nightmares are just the subconscious surfacing of our fears. You're worried about Kyler, and scared that you aren't going to be able to help her."

Her breathing had evened out a bit. "I'm scared for her." She admitted. "I should have done something."

"What could you have done?"

"I don't know." She said, frustration growing. "Something, _anything_. People are messing with my family, Andrew. I should be able to stop them."

"We're going to figure this out, okay?"

She nodded, burying her face in my chest as I rubbed small circles on her back. "I love you."

The words were muffled, but I was sure I had heard her correctly. I pulled back, trying to look at her face, but she looked away and avoided my eyes. "Isabelle, please look at me."

She glanced up at me nervously. "I figured now was as good a time as any to admit it."

For a long moment I didn't know what to say. _Say you love her too, dumbass._ I knew that's what I should do, but it just didn't feel like enough. "I don't know how to say this without sounding like a total moron, but I am impossibly and unwaveringly in love with you, Isabelle. I'm sorry it took me so long to admit it."

She was about to respond when a dinging noise came from her bedside table. "It's Sasha. She wants everyone in the office." She said, reading the message off the phone. I nodded, and the two of us rolled out of bed. A glance at the clock told me it was just past 05:30. _Great._

It wasn't all horrible, though. Isabelle decided to tuck herself under my arm on our way there.

*Sasha*

"Where are we?" I asked as Ella walked into the office carrying a tray of fresh muffins.

"I just got off the phone with my dad," Nolan started "and he says that until yesterday's hack gets figured out, all flights are grounded. Most countries are threatening to shoot anything with a motor out of their airspace. International travel of any kind is at a near standstill."

"So for now, we're on our own." I said, picking up a muffin and peeling away the paper.

"What about SHIELD?" Izzy asked, still tucked under Andrew's arm. I had only gotten about an hour and a half of sleep, but I wasn't too tired to notice the clear shift in their relationship. "Surely we can get help from them, or at least Uncle Phil or Maria."

Sophie shook her head. "Uncle Phil left for a vacation in Australia as soon as the gala ended, and Maria's one of the new directors. Theres no way she'll be free to help us until this airline thing blows over. Our parents may work for SHIELD, but Kyler is technically a civilian, which means this would fall under the NYPD's jurisdiction."

I took a deep breath, trying to clear the mess in my head. "Nolan, what did you find out about the bullets?"

"About as much as I expected to." He said. "One of them was definitely fired from Kyler's Heckler & Koch, but without a control bullet from the assailants' guns, all I can really tell you about the other two is their caliber."

"Alright, any luck with Raymer?" I asked, turning to Sophie.

She pulled up a few files on the holotable. "He's got a juvie record longer than your arm, but no arrests as an adult." She said, flicking through his rap sheet.

"He was probably working as a merc by the time he became a legal adult." Andrew reasoned.

His sister nodded in agreement. "He's pretty off-grid, no house or apartment in his name, no credit cards. But, he does have a cell phone, which he uses to call Unification International several times a month." She said, pulling up a different website. The top of the screen flipped through pictures of volunteers handing out food and water to disaster victims around the world.

"I've never heard of that organization before." Izzy said.

"The website says that they're based out of France, but they have facilities all over the world."

"See if they have any facilities in New York." I said. "Mr. Raymer doesn't really seem like the humanitarian type." Sophie gave a small salute before turning back to her screens.

"I think I might have something." Ella said sheepishly, pulling out her sketchbook and flipping through to the page she wanted. "I don't know if it helps, but I remembered some of the faces of the men who attacked us."

"This is really good." Nolan said, taking the sketchbook and looking at the three sketches she had done. "If we can figure out who they are, we might have better luck tracking down their employer. Izzy, can I borrow the lab? I'll need to do a software download for facial recognition."

"Oh goody, more illegal things." She said without humor. "Go ahead."

Nolan thanked her before taking off down the hall with the sketchbook in hand.

"I know a few exercises that might help you remember more." Andrew offered. "If you're up to trying them, it could help." Ella nodded and followed him out of the room.

"Izzy, stay here and help Sophie."

"What about us?" Liam asked following me out of the room.

"You and I are going to go to the armory and create an extraction plan." I said, carefully avoiding the word "we" in reference to the two of us.

He nodded, following me into the elevator and reaching for the button that would take us to the armory in the second sub-level.

"Not that armory." I said, and I punched the button for the floor above us instead.

_Kyler  
><em>

The "sunroom" was not nearly as pleasant as it initially sounded. When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was an expanse of gray concrete, interrupted by a metal door that reminded me of the ones in the lab of the tower. The second thing I noticed was the strange lighting that illuminated the rubber floors and the straps that held me to the chair I had been dumped in. That had been several hours ago, and now as the sun rose I realized that the strangely patterned ceiling was actually a really dingy skylight about 12 feet over my head. I estimated that it was around six in the morning when the door slid open and a pale woman with platinum blonde hair walked in.

"Good morning Ms. Barton. You and I have much to discuss."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Sorry this one took so long, but it's finals time so I'm a little busy. As usual the link to the Q&A blog ison my profile. Please check it out, and maybe leave a question or two. And of course, if you have a moment, I would love a review. _


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